Three-year parking plan
COUNCIL SET TO APPROVE TEMPORARY SCHEME ON OLD SPORTS CENTRE SITE
KIRKLEES Council looks set to approve its own planning application for a temporary car park on the former sports centre site on Southgate, in Huddersfield.
The scheme, which is expected to be signed off tomorrow, will be “for no more than three years”.
The 166-space site partly replaces the 588-space Market Hall multi-storey car park at Alfred Street, which closed suddenly in February.
After initially announcing it was assessing damage to the building, the council revealed last month that the site would be demolished as part of the socalled Huddersfield Blueprint project.
Officers have not specified what it will be replaced by.
The new temporary 24-hour car park on the 1.5-acre site at Southgate has cost £230,000 to create. It will be accessed by traffic from Old Leeds Road.
It is anticipated that it will provide match-day parking for football and rugby events at the John Smith’s Stadium.
The council intends to landscape part of the area with trees and wildflowers to create “prairie-style grasslands”. Timber hoarding around the space will be replaced with a 2m-high metal mesh fence.
A report submitted to the council’s Strategic Planning Committee tomorrow says the new car park is earmarked for short-stay shoppers and long-stay commuter parking “displaced by the closure of the Market Hall car park”.
It will allow for up to five hours’ parking or all-day provision. Parking for private non-residential or private residential uses will not be permitted.
Large vehicle and coaches will be prevented from entering by a height barrier.
The Old Leeds Road Car Park had been set to open by the end of June.
Users will pay £2.50 for five hours and £3 to stay over five hours from Monday to Saturday. On Sundays, the charge will be £1 per visit.